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DEALING WITH DIFFICULT PASSAGES
2 Peter 3:14-18
I have noticed an encouraging trend over the past few
weeks: attendance is on the rise at Pond! Our numbers are up both for
Bible class and for worship. We have had some out sick who are now able
to be with us again; we are glad you are able to be back. We have also
had several visitors; we welcome you anytime. Church is one place where
less is defiantly not more. If God is in the presence of two or three
assembled in his name how much more when over a hundred meet? Let each
of us do all that we can to maintain this trend.
Over the next several weeks I want us to look at some
passages of Scripture that are considered difficult by some. Some of
them are hard to understand while others have simply been misapplied so
long the original meaning has been forgotten. This is nothing new; in
fact, Peter addressed this problem in his second letter (2 Peter
3:15-16). Countless books have been written on this very subject, some
good, some not so good. I do not pretend to have anything new to add but
I do wish to help separate from the bad.
One passage that has given much trouble to many is 1
Corinthians 15:29, “Otherwise, what will those do who are baptized for
the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why then are they baptized
for them?” when I read this passage I immediately think of the past
practice of the Roman church to baptize living people for the benefit of
those who died without being baptized hoping that the deceased would
receive some benefit from it. Perhaps if that practice had never
developed this would not be a difficult passage at all. Let us first
consider why this could not possibly be what Paul meant.
First, such a meaning is not in harmony with what the
New Testament teaches us about baptism. Before baptism can have the
intended effect the one baptized must believe (Mark 16:15-16: Acts
8:37). One can no more be baptized for another than one can believe for
another.
Second, once we die our fate is sealed. This simple
truth is made clear by what Abraham told the rich man of Luke 16. You’ll
remember that after he died he “lifted up his eyes being in torment.”
When he begged for relief he was told, “Between us and you there is a
great chasm fixed, so that those who wish to come over from here to you
will not be able, and that none may cross over from there to us.”
What then are the likely meanings of this passage,
since it cannot possible be a reference to the custom of baptizing
people in order for the deceased to receive the benefit? There are two
likely possibilities that are closely related, either of which is
acceptable. When we look at the context we see that the dead that Paul
is referring to is Chris Jesus. He is, in essence asking rhetorically,
“What good is it to be baptized in the name of someone who has died and
not been resurrected?
Some speculate that the baptism mentioned here is a
baptism of blood (Luke 12:50), referring to Christian martyrs. They
would have Paul question the worth or benefit of dying for Christ if He
had not truly been raised. I do not see any real problem with this
understanding except that it seems to assume things that there is no
reasons to assume. Because of this I find it preferable to believe Paul
was referring to water baptism (of the living) for remission of sin.
In love,
Thomas Sneed
Pond Church of Christ
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